As previously reported, the Phillies will send Rollins to L.A. and will receive minor league pitchers Zach Eflin and Tom Windle in return. The Phillies released a statement on the trade, and I think Chase Utley has something in his eye:

“The Dodgers are very lucky to acquire a player like Jimmy. I’ve said it time and time again that Jimmy makes everyone around him better. The team will miss his leadership on the field and his infectious smile, but most of all, I will miss our pre-game handshake.”

The trade will formally be announced in a press conference later today.

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Roberto Fausto Carmona Edward James Olmos Hernandez was the only Phillie who ended up getting traded this year, and in return the Phillies got two players to be named later. The first player to be named later was named to be Jesmuel Valentin, a 20-year-old middle infielder who is the son of former MLBer Jose Valentin. And yesterday, the deal was finalized as the second player to be named later was named as 19-year-old RHP Victor Arano. Arano was the #14 ranked prospect in the Dodgers’ farm system and was 4-7 with a 4.08 ERA in 22 games this season for their Single-A squad. These two men, who we may never hear from again, are the total and full result of this year’s trade deadline. Couldn’t Pat Gillick have rolled through about a month ago?

As rumored, the Sixers and Houston Rockets have reportedly agreed in principle to a deal that would bring Jeremy Lin, a first round draft pick, and a third piece to the 76ers. In return, the Rockets will get a really nice thank you note. According to Liberty Ballers, that first rounder could be the Rockets own or the one they got from New Orleans in the Omer Asik deal. There is still some waiting to do, which is the theme of this year’s free agency period:

That Lin deal does hinge on Houston signing a max player, which at this point seems like Chris Bosh.

So here’s how this is probably going to shake out: LeBron goes back to Cleveland, Bosh goes to Houston, and Lin comes here. After that, Cleveland may have to send Wiggins to Minnesota if they also want Kevin Love. And then there’s the issue of Chandler Parsons and his offer sheet from the Mavericks, which puts a ticking clock on Houston. Really, LeBron just needs to make up his damn mind, because everything is on hold until he does. And if he goes back to Miami? All of this will disappear into the wind.

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In other words, they may or may not trade guys who may or may not be tradable. Notably, however, no mention of Cliff Lee or Chase Utley: [ESPN.com]

One team the Phillies would seem to match up with is the Marlins, on Ruggiano,Steve Cishek, Mike Dunn and Ryan Webb. But the Phillies are looking to make a deal without including Jesse Biddle, Maikel Franco, Cody Asche or any of their top tier of prospects. And the Marlins are telling teams they won’t move anyone else at this point unless they get an offer they feel they can’t say no to.

If the Phillies have a rough week in St. Louis and Detroit, on the other hand, they could still sell — with Michael Young pretty much a lock to get moved if they go that route. (“The next week,” said one exec who spoke with them, “will determine Michael Young’s fate more than anyone else on their roster.”) But even if they do decide to listen on Jonathan Papelbon, other teams increasingly view him as practically untradeable.

“He’s just not that valuable with that contract,” says one AL exec. “If the Phillies want premium players back, they’d have to take half the contract [which has two years, worth $26 million, remaining, plus a vesting $13 million option]. I don’t see any team giving up an A-list prospect and taking that entire contract. You’d be taking the worst two or three years of a bad deal andgiving them a premium prospect. That just doesn’t make sense.”

Admirals defenseman Jay D. Rosehill was arrested Friday and charged with stealing a car while his team was on the road.

Rosehill, 22, was released on bond from the Broome County Jail on a felony charge of third-degree grand larceny, the Press & Sun-Bulletin newspaper of Bunghamton reported. His release came shortly before the Admirals played the Senators.

The Broome County Sheriff’s Office said a vehicle had been reported stolen from the parking lot of Madame Oar’s, a Binghamton strip club.

A club employee said she had started the car and left it to warm up when it was taken.

Shortly after the report was made, about 1:25 a.m., a deputy spotted the car pulling into the parking lot of the Xhibition Gentlemen’s Club.

The deputy said he saw a man, later identified as Rosehill, run from the car, the Press & Sun-Bulletin reported.

Bile Scott, writing in the comments yesterday, put forth the following: I still don’t understand why you dump Pence at the deadline last year. He was under team control for another year so instead of going to arbitration with a solid RF, you get Young and platoon unproven pups in left? It makes no sense!

Agreed. Pence had one year remaining on his contract (arbitration eligible) and is 29-years-old (30 in April). At the time of the trade, he was the youngest, most durable and reliable projected everyday player for the Phils in 2013.

True, the Phillies had to sell at the deadline last season, and trading Shane Victorino and Joe Blanton, each in the final year of their contract, made sense. But why move the youngest controllable starter when you still expect to compete the following season?

Prospects. Eh. It’s not like either of the minor leaguers the Phillies got for Pence – Tommy Joseph and Seth Rosin – are can’t-miss players. Both are highly regarded, but, as is the case with all prospects, there are no guarantees. The Phils are still in win now mode (I think), so trading a 30-year-old everyday player with one year left on his deal for prospects, well, it doesn’t make a ton of sense.

Money. Who cares? It’s not yours. Pence avoided arbitration with the Giants by signing a one-year, $13.8 million deal, which is certainly at the high end* of what he would have gotten from the Phils, whose only spending limit is $178 million– the luxury tax threshold for 2013. Right now, the Phillies’ current payroll stands at around $156 million (plus around $10 million for player benefits that gets factored into luxury tax calculations). That leaves them about $12 million under the threshold, or, in other words: roughly a Hunter Pence under the threshold.

*He likely earned himself a $2 million, “thanks for those pre-game sermons” bonus in San Fran

Having Pence this season would have made no difference to the construction of the rest of the team, as it currently stands. Yes, the Phils now have substantial flexibility, something they undoubtedly planned to, um, do something – anything at all – with this winter. But they didn’t. So, unless you’re an owner, applauding the $10 million or so they saved is foolish. And even John Middleton is going to be shaking his DAMN head when he watches Young try to catch a slicing looper.

Upgrades. Not really. Obviously, the Phils tried to do more with the money, but missed on available players – either via trade or free agency – such as the Uptons, Josh Hamilton, Nick Swisher and others. They failed to sign any impact hitters, instead settling on 900-year-old Michael Young, controllable Ben Revere (thumbs up there), and the anti-Semitic Delmon Young. They spent on pitching, sort of: Mike Adams ($5 million), Chase Utley hater John Lannan ($2.5 million), Aaron Cook ($1.6 million) and Chad Durbin ($1.1 million). None of those names, except for maybe Adams, jump out at you, but they bolster a bullpen that needed bolstering.

It all comes back to the lineup, though. The Phillies are certainly no better there than they were last season. Young is a minor upgrade over Placido Polanco, but the outfield now consists of John Mayberry, Dom Brown, Darin Ruf, Ben Revere, Laynce Nix and Delmon Young. That’s terrible for a supposedly contending team.

Pence certainly has his issues – he’s a lousy fielder, frustrating hitter, and owns a strip of land between home plate and shortstop – but he’s not as bad in the field as Young, and his stats are better than Young’s across the board. Even Swisher, who just signed a four-year, $56 million deal with the Indians, and who some thought could have been the upgrade in the outfield, didn’t have much better numbers than Pence in 2012. Oh, and he’s three years older. I have no idea if the Phils ever seriously considered signing Swish, but he at least had the type of power numbers (24 home runs, 93 RBIs) that the Phillies were likely looking for.

Some would argue Pence had the worst season of his career last year– a rarity for a 29-year-old. Yet he still finished the season with 24 home runs, 104 RBIs and was credited by his Giants teammates as being a clubhouse leader in their run to their second World Series championship in three years. Not bad.

And that’s what I keep coming back to: If nothing else, Pence is reliable. He’s played in over 150 games, and hit over 20 home runs and 25 doubles every year since 2008. In four of those five seasons, he’s driven in over 80 runs, including 91, 97 and 104 in each of the past three seasons, respectively. Those aren’t necessarily All-Star numbers, and Pence’s on-base and slugging percentages are mediocre, but he’s a plus corner outfielder, still in the prime of his career, and would have been under contract in 2013 at an amount that would have allowed the Phillies to remain under the luxury tax threshold while making the “upgrades” they did this winter.